Previous theorizing about social influence processes has led to the emergence of two research traditions, each focusing on only a subset of influence situations. Research on conformity looks at the influence of the majority on a passive minority, whereas research on innovation considers the influence of active minorities on a silent majority. In the present article, we review these two lines of research, as well as some recent evidence, from the perspective of a new theory of social impact. This theory views social influence as resulting from forces operating in a social force field and proposes that influence by either a majority or a minority will be a multiplicative function of the strength, immediacy, and number of its members. Social impact theory offers a general model of social influence processes that integrates previous theoretical formulations and empirical findings and accounts for the reciprocal influence of majorities and minorities. By viewing social influence as a unitary concept, social impact theory permits comparisons between conformity and innovation and predicts the relative magnitude of their effects.

Income instability is an important and understudied dimension of the established empirical relation between family income and children's healthy development. Frequent fluctuations in income may influence daily processes and routines of family life, but the nature of such effects also may vary by specific patterns of income instability, parents' responses, and children's characteristics. In this article, we review existing theory and research on income, family functioning, and child development to better understand the potential implications of income instability for children's development. We also integrate theoretical insights from developmental psychology, economics, sociology, and social neuroscience to propose a set of testable hypotheses for social science investigations on this topic.

The effects of inadmissible evidence on the judgments of mock jurors were examined in a 2 × 3 design. Subjects (N= 168) read a trial transcript in which critical testimony was introduced either by the prosecution or by the defense and subsequently ruled admissible, ruled inadmissible, or ruled inadmissible with an admonishment by the judge to disregard that testimony. A Control condition in which the critical testimony was omitted was also run. Results indicated that judgments of the defendant's guilt were strongly influenced by the critical testimony when it was ruled admissible. When it was simply ruled inadmissible, the critical testimony had little effect on the guilt judgments. However, when the judge specifically admonished the jurors to disregard the inadmissible testimony, their verdicts were influenced in the direction of that testimony. Further, subjects in the Inadmissible With Admonishment conditions indicated a significantly greater desire to be allowed to consider the inadmissible testimony than did subjects in the Inadmissible Without Admonishment conditions. The results were interpreted in terms of psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966).

This study examines how parent socioeconomic status (SES) directly and indirectly predicts children's school readiness through pathways of parental investment. Data come from direct assessments with preschool children and surveys with their primary caregivers in Ghana at the start of the 2015-2016 school year (N = 2,137; M = 5.2 years). Results revealed SES-related gaps in all parental investment characteristics and child school readiness skills. Preschool involvement served as the primary mediating mechanism in the path from SES to most school readiness skills, though it did not predict executive function. The number of books in the household was marginally positively predictive of early literacy, whereas at-home stimulation was negatively related to motor, literacy, and numeracy skills.

Economic life for most American households is quite dynamic. Such income instability is an understudied aspect of households' economic contexts that may have distinct consequences for children. We examine the empirical relationship between household income instability, as measured by intrayear income change, and adolescent school behavior outcomes using a nationally representative sample of households with adolescents from the Survey of Income and Program Participation 2004 panel. We find an unfavorable relationship between income instability and adolescent school behaviors after controlling for income level and a large set of child and family characteristics. Income instability is associated with a lower likelihood of adolescents being highly engaged in school across the income spectrum and predicts adolescent expulsions and suspensions, particularly among low-income, older, and racial minority adolescents.